Had Hizashi been the older son
by Runespoor
Summary: series of unrelated ficlets based on the premise, 'well, what if' Many different ways it could have gone, many small events that could have happened. [Hyuugacentric gen, various pairings]
1. meeting one's team

**Title:** Things that could have happened had Hizashi been the older son   
**Author:** Runespoor  
**Rating:** T  
**Summary:** series of unrelated drabbles/ficlets. points at title

**Pairings: **will vary according from a ficlet to the next.

**Notes:** just so you know, this was born out of my getting infuriated whenever it starts being said that Hinata would be happier in the Branch House. Rather than risking incoherence before my screen every time I came across the idea, I thought I'd play with it. :p

* * *

1. meeting one's team

The new team was sitting before their sensei, who'd been listening, each in their turn, to what they'd said, and what they hadn't. The Inuzuka boy was going to be a pain, and Kurenai was very glad that she hadn't been the one in charge of ninja-breaking him, but she was convinced that the only actual problem she'd have with him would be not to reduce him in her mind as 'just another loudmouth'. The Aburame would be interesting, depending on his opinion on teamwork, and friendship, and professionalism; so far Kurenai could only congratulate herself that she wasn't freaked out by bugs.

That left the little Hyuuga girl. The Hyuuga, Kurenai corrected herself. The girl hadn't even spoken yet; Kurenai should know better than to mindlessly typecast people without thinking.

She motioned toward the girl that she could introduce herself – the last one to speak. Hinata nodded, the movement letting Kurenai catch a glimpse of the hitai-ate behind the genin's fringe.

Her voice was quiet, almost dreamy, when she first spoke.

"I like… training when the sun is just rising. I don't like carrying the tea tray," her lips twisted into something of a grimace. Then she suddenly hardened. "My goal is to prove no-one is born to be a slave."

Kurenai regarded her student for a moment, taking in her defiance and the tilt to her chin – peripherally noting the boys' frown, Kiba's broadcasting of his puzzlement and Shino's acknowledgment of the perplexity.

"That's a worthy goal," she commented.


	2. ninja academy

**Title:** Things that could have happened had Hizashi been the older son   
**Author:** Runespoor  
**Rating:** T  
**Summary:** series of unrelated drabbles/ficlets. See title.

* * *

2.

Not making much noise was a skill every ninja developed to the highest level. It was Hinata's humble pride that she wasn't any noisier than them, though she'd never gone to the shinobi academy.

On some days, she stopped in her chores and watched Hizashi and Neji-sama going at their exercises, watching Neji-sama's moves, how fluid and graceful and purposeful, her breath suspended to his fingers, catching in her throat when she missed a move – he was so fast and she wasn't trained as a ninja. She couldn't watch for too long though, so after a while she went back to her duties, discreetly deactivating her Byakugan as she did so; not many civilians in the Hyuuga used the bloodline, Hinata didn't like attracting attention.

Hizashi would stare at her when she left, eyes searching for the small shape unaware of his awareness, her hesitating steps and frail back reminding him so little of his dead brother. Neji was focused on his training; Hizashi would think protecting his brother's only daughter from the hardships of life as a shinobi was the least he could do, and he'd be pierced by a pang of guilt.

Then he'd turn back towards his own son, and the differences he could see between Neji's calm self-assurance and Hinata's timid weakness would only reassure him in his opinion.


	3. ninja academy cont'd

**Title:** Things that could have happened had Hizashi been the older son   
**Author:** Runespoor  
**Rating:** T  
**Summary:** series of unrelated drabbles/ficlets. See title.

**Notes: **continuation from last chapter.

**Pairings:** one-sided NaruHina here.

* * *

2A. 

From afar Hinata thought it was a small boy but as she came closer she saw that he must be her age, and when he looked up she didn't know what to be dazzled by first, bright blond hair, clear blue eyes, or the whisker marks stretching on his cheeks. She felt immediate sympathy at that. Hinata's own mark was hidden under her fringe, but she always felt _something_ for the people she saw who had their own tattoos. Her favourite were the swirls adorning the cheeks of one of the boys.

The boy had a somewhat mulish expression on his face, and two bruises on his chin and his temple.

Hinata wondered if she should pretend she hadn't seen him, but he picked himself from the ground and dusted his clothes, an orange jumpsuit the likes of which Hinata had never seen. On anybody else it'd have been awful, but the boy was already so _bright_ that it suited him. She was surprised by the thought, but she imagined Neji in this outfit and refrained a giggle.

The boy looked straight at her, and Hinata squirmed. She wasn't really used to being the focus of someone's attention, and certainly not of such intensity. She shifted her grip on the bento. She should go; she'd be late. But she couldn't go because the boy was looking at her and leaving would be impolite.

"Hey, you're a Hyuuga, right?" He squinted at her.

"I mean, you've got the same eyes as Neji – yeah, 'course you're a Hyuuga. He's training in the backyard by himself, can you believe that? Teachers let 'em go early and he works – I think he says it's because that what's he's supposed to do, man, if Iruka-sensei ever let me out early I sure as hell wouldn't do the same thing I'd do if I were still in class, not that I really know him cuz he's a year older than me but that sounds like the kind of thing he'd do, I mean Neji, but yeah, you probably know him better than I do. By the way, how come you're not in class too? They let you out early too? I'm out cuz I ditched the lecture. So! You're in what year?"

Hinata, who'd been listening with the impression that for the first time in her life she'd come across someone who spoke the way she thought, with too many things running off in every direction and without a break, started a bit at that. She hadn't believed anyone would think she was a student at the Academy. She felt herself blush a little.

"I-I'm not at the Academy." Then, because she felt her presence here deserved an explanation, she justified, "I'm only bringing Neji-sama's bento. We were late this morning."

The boy stopped in his rearranging of his trousers and tilted his head to the side, frowning. "You don't wanna be a ninja?" He seemed testing; not aggressive.

Hinata stopped.

He was staring at her. His eyes were very blue. "I'm gonna be Hokage when I grow up, so I need to know people who aren't ninjas because there aren't _only_ ninjas in the village-" he sounded like he was repeating something he'd heard but wasn't entirely convinced by "-and old man Ichiraku doesn't count cuz he's _old_."

She took her time considering what he'd said. Hinata wasn't training to be a ninja, but she lived in a shinobi village and Hizashi-sama was the leader of the clan, and Neji-sama was his heir, and he was very talented. Hinata still wasn't sure whether she should mention that she'd witnessed how this boy's technique had misfired (it had looked that way to her; when she'd seen Neji performing something similar at home, the end result hadn't looked the same) but she felt she should say something.

"You can't ditch classes if you want to become the Hokage," she pointed out, aware that she might be overstepping her boundaries.

The boy's face took on a sulky expression. "Yeah well I'm bored – and anyway you're not a ninja so you can't know what it's about!"

He glared at her, pouting. Hinata hunched her head between her shoulders, hands convulsing on the bento, eyes on the ground.

"I'm sorry," she said feebly. "You-you're right, I'm not qualified…"

"You're not," he said crossly.

She forced herself to glance up toward the whisker marks. They were what encouraged her to talk.

"The hand gestures you were making earlier," she said very fast, "when Neji-sama makes them at home the fifth one looks the same as the second one." She stayed put for a moment. What she really wanted to say was 'maybe that could help', but she didn't want to say 'you're doing it wrong'.

She didn't dare look up. She felt miserable about saying that – it wasn't her place, she didn't know anything about that, she didn't want him to think she was a know-it-all – but if there was a chance it could help the boy then she had to say it. It wasn't as if the knowledge would ever be useful otherwise.

He was only silent for half a second. "…Oh. Oh! Hey, hey, I think you're right! Thanks!"

Then she looked up; he was grinning and – vaguely bouncing. He didn't look at all ashamed that she'd seen him after he'd failed.

"We've been working on that for two months, I can't believe I never realised what I got wrong! An' you did it just like that!..."

He stopped rocking on the balls of his feet and squinted at Hinata again. His whiskers took an inquisitive angle. "Y'know, I think that's useful for a ninja." He nodded once, decisively.

Hinata's heart started to beat faster and she mechanically tried to wipe the sudden clamminess of her palms on the cloth covering the bento.

The bento!

She jumped with horror. "No, I'm late – I'm sorry, where did you say Neji-sama was training?"

The boy with the whisker marks was already going through the hand gestures, slowly, as if to make sure he could chain them the way they were meant to. "Backyard," he said. "-and hey, come back whenever you want, t'was great talking with you!"

Hinata was hurrying – she shouldn't make Neji-sama wait, he had classes after lunch – but she recognised the boy's enthusiasm. She'd never felt it for herself, but Neji-sama looked as fiercely happy when he mastered a new technique.


	4. ninja academy cont'd 2

**Title:** Things that could have happened had Hizashi been the older son   
**Author:** Runespoor  
**Rating:** T  
**Summary:** series of unrelated drabbles/ficlets. See title.

**Notes: **continuation from last chapter.

* * *

2B.

The heir of the Hyuuga was training under the supervision of his father when the door of the dojo slid open on a nine-year-old girl who wasn't carrying a tea tray.

Neji was concentrated on his kata and so didn't notice, or didn't pay attention to the irruption, but Hizashi did, and he turned toward his niece, wondering what could push the girl to disturb them.

Hinata rarely did; she was a solitary child who seemed to most enjoy peaceful, serene pastimes and atmospheres.

Hizashi knew her calligraphy to be remarkably fluid for a child her age, and her flower arrangements were commendable; he was glad that he'd chosen this lifestyle for her, in harmony with her personality. It was a bit too early to think about the future, but Hizashi had hopes of arranging a nice marriage for her, to some gentle, understanding Branch House shinobi who could get a post within Konoha, for instance as an Academy teacher. She'd like that.

He nodded for her to approach.

She bowed at slightly longer a distance than would be considered appropriate. This time, Neji paused in his kata and moved a few feet away to let her come closer, but he didn't start again, instead gazing at her with some curiosity. Inwardly, Hizashi nodded in approval.

"Did you want something, Hinata?"

Hinata didn't look up at all. It was quite unusual for her not to give some indication she'd heard that she was being talked to.

Hizashi frowned.

He could only hope the problem wasn't linked to Hinata's errands out of the Hyuuga compound. He'd known that the Kyuubi boy had talked to her several times over the course of the last few weeks, but he hadn't paid much attention to it – when, he chided himself, he really should have. He'd believed that Hinata couldn't and shouldn't be entirely sheltered from the outside world, and he still believed he was right in sending her out, but the Kyuubi was a special case.

If this turned out to be somewhat related to the Kyuubi tormenting her, he'd have to take it before the Hokage. Hinata was a civilian; ninjas were there to make sure the Kyuubi couldn't take advantage of those who couldn't defend themselves.

He broke the train of thought when Hinata took a breath before she started speaking.

"I – I want to become a ninja."


	5. chuunin exam

**Title:** Things that could have happened had Hizashi been the older son   
**Author:** Runespoor  
**Rating:** T  
**Summary:** series of unrelated drabbles/ficlets. See title.

* * *

3. 

One moment she was dashing at him again and the next she was sprawled out on the ground – Neji's hand had shot instinctively, striking a harsh blow on her heart in automatic defense.

"Hinata," he called again, regaining his breath.

(He hadn't planned or thought he'd have to make any effort before the actual third test even began, and he hadn't, but Hinata had taken him by surprise; he hadn't expected her to be that violent, and trying to disable her without hurting her too much had been taxing, an exercise in control and precision harder than any he'd completed in training, mostly because Hinata didn't seem to give any thought to her well-being, just charging with everything she had. She'd landed a blow early in their fight – Neji had still been focusing on trying to reason her – and now Neji's right arm was limply dangling at his side.)

She didn't move.

"Hinata," he repeated, only now becoming aware of the utter silence in the arena. The exhausted-looking judge moved to kneel by Hinata's side, and took her wrist in his hand. "Hinata!"

Hinata's wrist limply fell. The examiner – Hayate – looked pained, and sighed. "I hereby declare Hyuuga Neji the winner. Please," he added, "take her away."

People rushed to Hinata's side, Neji saw her attractive jounin-sensei appearing in the arena, Hinata's teammate jumping down the balcony, concealed by his glasses, Naruto grabbing her shoulders and shaking and shouting and crying, and the pink-haired girl gently stopped him and she was crying too, and Yamanaka Ino and Nara Shikamaru and their teammate kneeling next to her and there were so many people surrounding her and Neji couldn't move, couldn't, couldn't, couldn't.

Suddenly Gai-sensei was by his side. Neji blindly looked up towards him, and opened his mouth to speak, but no word came out. He had to try several times before his voice worked again.

"I – I didn't mean to," were the first words he said.

_S-she was coming and coming at me again and again and again and I didn't want to hurt her and I told her to stop and she never stopped and I didn't think and I thought she was just being unreasonable and I didn't forfeit because I wanted to win and I thought I deserved to win and it was like she was mad and I never thought about her at all and now it's too late and _I didn't mean to.

Neji had never been inadequate in his whole life, but now he clung to the words as if they could convey everything he didn't know how to put.


	6. making new friends

**Title:** Things that could have happened had Hizashi been the older son  
**Author:** Runespoor  
**Rating:** T  
**Summary:** series of unrelated drabbles/ficlets. See title.

* * *

4.

The girl's hair hid her face almost completely, but was a dead give-away to the fact that she was crying.

_What is it with me_, Ino wondered, _that I'm always the one meeting these girls?_

But Ino was a nice girl, as well as a curious one – who said nosy no not nosy never when I catch Shika he's dead dead like a dead thing that's a lie I say – so of course she stopped, crouched next to the girl, and asked her question. Hell, it'd worked last time.

"So, why are you crying?"

This one didn't sob and sniffle, but she tensed in a way Sakura hadn't when Ino pulled her hair aside. She had very pretty hair, Ino absently thought, all black and smooth and shiny.

"Is it about your forehead too, 'cause I gotta tell you, I did this just a week ago and I only have a white ribbon left. Well, I say white, but it's more grey now, so –"

But she cut herself off as soon as she saw the girl's face. Her eyes, which were white and dry, were staring at her in a way that might be a glare; Ino couldn't be sure, but that wasn't what stopped her.

_A ribbon's not gonna cut it_, Ino thought when she saw the huge, ugly green mark on her forehead.


	7. making new friends take 2

**Title:** Things that could have happened had Hizashi been the older son  
**Author:** Runespoor  
**Rating:** T  
**Summary:** series of unrelated drabbles/ficlets. See title.

* * *

5.

It was Uzumaki Naruto's first day at the shinobi Academy, and he'd fallen in love – absolute, devoted, all-consuming, all-encompassing love.

He explained it all in front of his mirror that evening (it was a habit of his; it was nicer than speaking to thin air. Sometimes he stopped and gave himself encouraging little gestures and interested little noises – "yes, go on.") and he didn't even think about stopping to pay attention to what he was saying. In fact, he ignored the mirror altogether, caught up in his retelling/daydreaming/excited babbling complete with bouncing on his bed.

Had the mirror been a living person, it'd have sighed in exasperation when Naruto described for the fifth time the thing which had caught his eye about Hyuuga Hinata.

She had a mark taking the whole of her forehead, like he had one on his belly.


	8. chuunin exam take 2

**Title:** Things that could have happened had Hizashi been the older son  
**Author:** Runespoor  
**Rating:** T  
**Summary:** series of unrelated drabbles/ficlets. See title.

* * *

6.

When the time for the chuunin exam came, Gai-sensei didn't nominate his team, though the three rookie teams all entered. Lee was distressed and swore he'd work harder, Tenten broke half a dozen training dummies in combined anger and resolve to prove she'd been totally ready; Neji accepted it with the thought that Gai-sensei, for all his Passionate Caps of Youth, knew better.

He couldn't help but feel a twinge of resentment, though, when he learnt that his one-year-younger cousin had made it to the finals; but he quickly stifled his envy as unbefitting of a clan heir, and he attended her fight with his father, inwardly wishing her the best luck.

She likely didn't need it; she was a strong fighter, and her opponent was none other than Uzumaki Naruto, but still. Naruto too had made it to the finals, Neji thought as he caught a glimpse of Hinata's teammate Kiba only a few seats away, with the other Konoha genins who hadn't made it past the prelims, and Kiba wasn't a washout. Then again, Hinata was probably a lot stronger than Kiba.

Hinata, as Neji was all too aware, was probably stronger than him too; it was one of the reasons Neji understood Gai-sensei had rather let them train one more year. He was okay with it, mostly; it wasn't like there was any urgency to the matter.

Down in the arena, the two opponents were facing one another. They looked a bit lost, as if they weren't entirely sure of why they were here.

Neji looked at the other genins, hoping that they'd comment so he'd understand what it was about. Luckily he didn't have to strain his hearing too much.

"That's harsh for a match," Kiba judged.

"Why that?" asked a blond girl when her pink-haired friend grimly nodded. "Sakura? I mean, it's not like they're teammates or anything. I mean, even it was like, say, Sasuke and I, I'd certainly try my best shot. Of course I'd never be able to beat him in a thousand years, but I'd still give him hell."

The other girl, Sakura, gestured to the arena, where the signal to start had just been given. "See them? They're not fighting the people they want to be fighting. At least, Naruto isn't."

"Hinata isn't either," Kiba commented. "Weird as it sounds, Hinata_respects_ Naruto." He sounded like he couldn't for the life of him venture a guess why his teammate would arbour such outlandish feelings for the village clown.

"It sounds _very_ weird," the blond deadpanned.

"But it makes sense," Sakura said decisively.

"Guys, they're starting," a chubby boy reminded.

Hinata's hands were half-raised in a defensive position. So far as Neji could analyse, her stance wasn't very self-assured. She was waiting for an attack. Neji wondered if it was because she was sure that Naruto's style would bring him at Jyuuken range, or for some other reason.

Naruto had crossed his hands behind his neck and was looking at her with his head tilted back, with a frowning, pouting expression. He was barely taller than she was, Neji noted with some amusement.

"Hey, Hinata," Naruto suddenly started. "Before I kick– before we fight. You know, your fight with Kabuto, what he said about spoiled children and all – well, I don't know if you were spoiled as a kid or something, but you don't fight that way, so… I don't think he really thought what he said. Kabuto's an okay guy. He helped us in the forest, he wanted to know where you were, with your team, 'cuz you were Konoha rookies too an' he said he thought you deserved to make it through the Forest." He paused. "Of course you were already out of the Forest, so it wasn't like you could've used his help anyway.

"So… yeah. Just thought I should, yanno, clear that up, cuz I don't think spoiled kids make good ninjas and you're_good_ – even if I'd rather be fighting the bastard and everything, but never mind that."

As Naruto fumbled with his apology, Neji's father tensed. Three meters away, Sakura was elbowing her friend. "See, I told you it's not Hinata he wanted to fight."

Neji activated his Byakugan. If he wanted to see his cousin's expression, he'd need as much focus as possible.

She acquiesced. "Thank you for your confidence, Naruto-kun, I appreciate it. But Kabuto-san wasn't talking about me."

"HA!" Naruto gloated. "I knew he was a good guy!" Then he frowned. "Hey, if he didn't mean you, then why did you get mad?"

Hinata straightened, lowering her hands. "Mad, Naruto-kun?"

She had a very careful, soft voice. Neji barely needed to make an effort to register his father's reaction – a sudden blankness in his body language that had to mean he kept himself in tight check – and the loud snort coming from one of the genins. Apparently not everyone agreed with Naruto's interpretation of the Hinata/Kabuto fight.

Naruto made an impatient gesture. "Like the bastard. The times he gets real quiet and everything just becomes this straight path he's trying to blow up."

"He's got a point there," Sakura muttered – Neji could read her lips.

"She's sure done a number on Kabuto before he forfeited. He was still at the hospital when I left, and he's a medic-nin in training." The chubby boy looked grave. Neji recalled an Akimichi genin had been taken to the hospital after being left half-dead by one of the visiting nins – Sabaku no Gaara.

"Why'd you get like that if he didn't mean you – and who did he mean anyway? What d'you care about random lucky kids?"

Hinata was twirling a lock of hair between her fingers. Then she let it go. "Do you remember the rest of what he said?"

The blond didn't hesitate. "Yeah, he was speaking about choices. Children spoiled with choices don't deserve them. And he also said that freedom doesn't need to be painful."

Neji looked at his father. He knew what that other genin, Kabuto, had spoken about, then. Him and the Main House. No wonder Hinata had got mad at that man. Still, surely his father wouldn't punish her for that.

She was a better ninja than Neji was, and so long as she didn't actually act above her position – but even allowing her to get angry at the mention of the heir and the Main House was letting her take liberties.

Neji knew that. It didn't mean he didn't have a nasty taste in his mouth at the thought of her punishment. What she lacked by birth, she earned by her strength – by her insane training - and she was still coming short.

He resolved to speak up for her to his father. As the heir, it was his duty.

Hinata was drumming her fingers together. "…It doesn't matter. I will tell you after the fight, if you want; the people it concerns are probably watching us now. It was about my clan's customs."

"The spoiled child thing, it was about an important person?"

Hinata slowly nodded. "It's someone I am sworn to protect – he didn't have any more of a choice about it than I did, but - it's – it's complicated."

Naruto's eyes crinkled. "Hey, you chose to take his defence then. T's a choice enough for me," he pointed out.

She smiled. "Yes." Then she shifted, bending forward, her palms turned upwards. It reminded Neji of something, but what - "Let us fight," she announced.

The blond grinned with a wild, jagged expression. "I'm gonna kick your ass."

"You will try," Hinata answered without looking up.

Kiba shook his head. "Unless he's got ten times better than he was a month ago, he's never even gonna touch her."

"I wouldn't put it past Naruto," Sakura retorted without taking her eyes away from the arena. "How I wish Sasuke was here…"

Down there, thirty Narutos were suddenly leaping forward. Neji started; mere bunshins, or?... (Kiba whistled.) Hinata stayed unmoving, and Neji watched with growing nervousness as Naruto came closer and Hinata made no move to dodge – maybe she intended to use his momentum against him.

He was only three meters away when Hinata tore into a blur – raw chakra spinning.

Neji's breath caught in his throat.

Next to him, a muffled protest escaped his father's lips.

Hizashi had never taught Kaiten to Neji; Neji thought his father knew best, and if he said that there was time – that no thirteen-year-old could correctly learn the divine whirlwind – then there had been no reason for Neji to insist.

_But Hinata had done it, without anyone to guide her, she'd managed to learn the clan head's technique on her own._

("_This_ is what she's capable of," Kiba commented. "Hinata's own impenetrable defence. In a fight, it's as effective as Gaara's Sand Shield.")

Naruto had been sent twenty meters away, but he was now back on his feet, and still grinning. "Neat jutsu," he called. "But I'm gonna break through it anyway!"

"I know," Hinata answered. She was still smiling too, a bit more widely than before; her long hair was falling haphazardly around her face. There was a certain glint in her eyes.

_She's pretty._

Neji was surprised by the thought, but less than by the second.

_I want to fight her._

But he wouldn't be able to; he wasn't as strong a ninja. He wasn't a genius, who could catch up with the training Hinata had imposed upon herself since she was – how old, anyway?

_I want to fight her._

("Just you watch. Naruto'll surprise you," Sakura promised. Then, frowning: "Provided he doesn't lose his head and starts showing off.")


	9. family

**Title:** Things that could have happened had Hizashi been the older son

**Author:** Runespoor  
**Rating:** T  
**Summary:** series of unrelated drabbles/ficlets. See title.

* * *

7.

It's one of Hinata's tasks to bring the tea tray to the dojo where Hizashi watches over his son's training, for no other reason than because Hizashi feels it his duty to never forget about her, about the brother who sacrificed himself so Hizashi could live.

Neji himself hardly pays any attention to his cousin.

He focuses on his training, practising again and again until his performance looks taken straight from one of the family scrolls. His seals are always perfectly formed, his jutsus as precise and academic as a demonstration.

He's slow to learn new tricks and he rarely ever uses shortcuts, always favouring a beautiful flowing move over a sharp tug of the wrist, but once he adds something to his training routine he is only satisfied when he has reached formal perfection.

Hizashi occasionally sees Hinata training, and her style couldn't be more different from Neji's if she tried.

Which, after all, would only be fair.

He tends to believe that in an actual fight Hinata would be more effective; she has the viciousness and willingness to fight dirty that a clan heir can hardly be expected to possess.

It would only be fair if Hinata tried to take Neji's counterpoint whenever she could because their fathers were brothers, and Neji is the Heir and Hinata a scrambling Branch House member, and Hizashi sometimes regrets that he didn't think of taking her in as his daughter when Hiashi died.

Maybe that would have changed something, though Hizashi doubts it.

Hinata was two when her father died; he doesn't know if she has memories of him, but it doesn't matter. He can't begrudge her for hating him anyway – for depriving her of a father who doted on her.

When she meets his eyes as she straightens after she laid the tray down, Hizashi sees the hatred and the challenge in her eyes, and somehow, he knows it's about Neji – Neji who is training, unaware, not looking at either of them.

_This one is mine_, her eyes are saying.

Hiashi knows he should worry more about the claim Hinata makes on his son every time she acts as a servant in the house of her uncle, knows he should worry more about the depth of her loathing, knows he should do something to assure his son's safety from the one supposed to protect him, but he doesn't because he doesn't have the right.

Every time their eyes meet, Hizashi is reminded that he stole someone from her – and it would be justified, laws of the blood, more ancient and powerful than clan rules, when she reached out and plucks Neji's life like a daisy.

All Hizashi feels he's allowed to do is let Neji train, as long and as perfectly as he wants, knowing in his core than in a real fight Hinata would win.


	10. family cont'd

**Title:** Things that could have happened had Hizashi been the older son  
**Author:** Runespoor  
**Rating:** T  
**Summary:** series of unrelated drabbles/ficlets. See title.

* * *

7A.

Hinata was two when her father died, and she doesn't remember him. She was too young.

He left nothing for her to find years after his death, no letters, no hidden trunks, no weapons she'd have received when she donned her Konoha hitae-ite for the first time, no "your father wanted you to have this".

She was too young to remember even glimpses of what had happened; she doesn't blame Hizashi or the Main House.

But her father – her father died without a thought of the daughter he was, for all intents and purposes, abandoning. (She's harsh, maybe needlessly, but she never knew the man and her heart is steel against Hizashi-sama's dead brother.)

So she doesn't trust Hizashi-sama even a little. She knows that the time will come when he will forsake his own son, without a thought.

This is why she always, always carries the tea tray into the dojo when the order comes, no matter the training she should be doing herself.

It is Hinata's duty to protect Neji-sama, whom no one needs to know she thinks about as_Neji-niisama_. (She had no memory of her father, her mother is a half-faded woman, and Hinata is an only child.) She has lost her father, and she must prepare to shield Neji from _his_ father's ultimate betrayal – because he, too, will leave. (It's only more likely because they were twins, similar.)

This is why Hinata always confronts her uncle – discreetly, when Neji isn't looking, because the ease with which Hizashi seems to give makes Hinata even colder on Neji's behalf.

_This one is mine_, she promises.

_When you go and die. I will be there._

The day Neji looks for her in the compound, under an excuse that has nothing to do with his father, she thinks that she's starting to win.


	11. family cont'd 2

**Title:** Things that could have happened had Hizashi been the older son

**Author:** Runespoor  
**Rating:** T  
**Summary:** series of unrelated drabbles/ficlets. See title.

* * *

7B.

In spite of popular belief, Neji is neither blind nor clueless. How could he, when he possesses the strongest Byakugan the family has seen in generations?

He is, after all, the heir of the Hyuuga; and as such, he must see everything.

That's what Neji believes until he starts registering and analysing and even paying attention, and when he does he honestly berates himself for his simple-mindedness. He was nine when he started being aware of the odd atmosphere whenever Hinata brings tea to the dojo, and it took him much too long to try and make sense of it.

She's already a genin when Neji's become astute enough to keep up with what his Byakugan has been sharp enough to see plainly for several years now, i.e. the looks his father and his little cousin exchange. It used to leave him nonplussed; it's never been a huge secret among the Hyuuga that she hates his father, but why ever would the clan head tolerate such insolence in his presence?

Neji seems to have no place in these contests, so he always trains on, devoting a few degrees of his still-growing 330° vision to the strange scene until his father and his cousin break eye contact. Once upon a time he used to be slightly jealous, because he felt as if they wouldn't notice him even if he stopped and stared at them.

Then he starts noticing how they glance at him before and after they do. Hinata's swift, eyelid-lowered fleeting look when she enters the dojo stays with him, more than the vaguely wistful, faraway air on his father's face after she leaves.

It is then that he realises that maybe he isn't as accomplished a Byakugan – a Hyuuga heir – as he thought he was. Obviously he hasn't paid close enough attention to her – or to the rest of the Branch House. Yet the clan is composed of two houses; it would only make sense for a clan head to divide his attention somewhat between the two?

So he starts watching her and listening to anything that might relate to her, all the while staying as remote and dignified as a Hyuuga heir should be, especially concerning matters about a mere member of the Branch House. Except she's not only Branch House; she's also his cousin, and if his father already gives her a special treatment, it means it is more or less accepted, and if it isn't – and here Neji at first doubts his logic, but he finds he cannot flaw it – then it should. He somehow manages to convince himself it is his duty.

But he still doesn't understand her.

It gets so bad – Neji gets so bewildered – that he actually finds himself asking his teammates for their input. Telling them about her. Starting to talk out of the blue. Opening up.

Repeatedly.

He doesn't actually notice that last bit – which shows how much at a loss he is – until Lee points it out, in his usual obnoxious cheerful manner. (Neji's usually more patient with his teammate's aggressive enthusiasm, but this is the morning and Neji's in no way able to control any spontaneous snark when he hasn't had his tea yet.)

"Well yes, but you'd have to ask her if she wanted to share breakfast with you; you told us she brings the tea when you're in the dojo. Not in the mornings!"

Neji blinks. Lee is cheerfully smiling.

"Wha?" he tries.

"You're always telling us you only ever see her when she brings tea to the dojo," Lee continues reasonably. "It would make sense to assume she's not looking to spend more time with you. You should be the one to pursue her if you want to change her mind! And be extra nice!...

"And maybe you should propose to make breakfast for her," he says in a reflexive tone, before nodding brightly. "Yes! You should prepare breakfast just the way she likes and put it on a tray and bring it to her room and give it to her! –"

"Lee," Tenten interrupts, "I think you've lost him."

Tenten, Neji confusedly thinks, is a god-send. Even if her hair is already perfectly done up in two symmetrical buns and her gaze is clear and she's looking very amused. At least she doesn't launch in caps-filled speeches when she's just woken up – not that Neji's brain is in a state to note the caps in Lee's intervention, but he just knows they were there.

"But Neji needs all the help he can get! And we are his teammates, and he is always talking about her! We have to do something!"

Neji needs a moment before he starts frowning. Tenten looks like she's considering… something.

"What 're you talkin' about?" he manages to growl.

"Your Hinata," Lee happily answers, all innocence and shining bowl cut.

"_What?_" Neji demands after a pause. _His_ Hinata?

Lee nods vigorously. Neji is too stunned to keep track of Tenten's reaction, and Gai-sensei, as always, has left to do – things. Laps around the whole forest. Something.

"Yes, the Hinata you are always speaking of! Since I never met her, I can't call her by her proper name, so I'm really looking forward for when you introduce us!"

Neji feels like he has accidentally stumbled into a parallel universe of some kind.

"_What?_" he can only repeat.

A growing part of his mind is wondering whether he's really talked so much about his cousin recently, and then wonders exactly what he can have found to say, because it's not as if they're close friends.

"I am not always talking about Hinata," his voice protests loudly. His mouth forms the words, but he cannot remember ordering it to speak up.

Beside, he is questioning the accuracy of this statement, and, more importantly, wondering whether he is condoning the intent behind it. After all, whether he is or is not 'always talking' about her, it still wouldn't be something to be embarrassed about – except in the capacity that he, one of the best ninjas of his year, has developed a habit without being aware of it – she wouldn't be something to be embarrassed of.

Lee stares at him with eyes even rounder than usual.

Tenten slowly shakes her head.

"Kami, you really _are_ clueless." She looks at him with something akin to bemusement, and then she says, matter-of-fact, "Neji, you're obsessed."

The next day, Neji goes looking for Hinata across the Hyuuga compound.


	12. chuunin exam take 3

**Title:** Things that could have happened had Hizashi been the older son

**Author:** Runespoor  
**Rating:** T  
**Notes: **this drabble and the following two are somewhat related. I know, I know, the shock. Also, I'm not nice.

* * *

**8. chuunin exam – take 3**

A glance to Lee informed Tenten that she hadn't imagined the noise. Swiftly, she picked her katana up from its resting place next to her, muffling the sound of the blade sliding out of its sheath in the grass. Lee was already on his feet, shoulders taut, waiting for Neji's signal.

But instead of designating where the enemy was coming from, with the jerk of his chin that made him look both brisk and stoic, Neji only motioned them to halt.

"Stay put."

Tenten exchanged a look with Lee, but they knew better than to question Neji's order. Even his genjutsu, which was his weakest ability, was the best of the team's; unlike Lee, he wasn't tempted to fight by himself without letting the team know about it; and the Byakugan's sensorial input was valuable. There was a reason why Team Gai was by far the most competent and professional of all the genin teams in Konoha.

Neji stood up – unfolded, Tenten thought, vaguely wishing she'd been that elegant when she was at the Academy.

"You can come out, the three of you," he called in a clear voice.

Three genins slowly came into the clearing. One of them – Inuzuka, Tenten identified by the puppy sitting on his head – sent an ugly glare Neji's way. Konoha genins. Rookies, even.

Tenten put her katana back on the grass and crouched again on her tree stump, though she didn't let go of the weapon. Lee's position relaxed.

One of the genins was walking slightly before the others. It was a girl, with short blue-black hair and the most practical-looking, non-seductive parka Tenten had ever seen. More importantly – eyes. Hyuuga.

"Neji-sama," the girl intoned.

Tenten couldn't repress a start. _Sama?_ She wasn't the only one surprised, judging by the Inuzuka's gaping. She quickly glanced at Neji (Neji-_sama_?) but he looked as composed as ever. As if it was normal, expected.

Tenten felt a jolt of guilt or unease. Of course she knew Neji was the Hyuuga heir, and the Hyuuga was the premier clan of Konoha, but neither she nor Lee had ever called Neji by any honorific… Maybe it was because they weren't from shinobi clans; but even back at the Academy, it had been that way too.

The Hyuuga girl was bowing a few meters away from Neji.

Not just a drawn-out nod; she was bowing at the neck too.

Her other teammate, the one with the sunglasses and the high-collared jacket – Aburame? – shifted. The Inuzuka looked as ill-at-ease as Tenten felt, and Lee – Lee had actually taken a few steps back, away from Neji.

"Hinata," he answered.

There was a pause Tenten imagined should have been filled by congratulations they'd made it this far and confirmations that they were alright.

He regarded her for a moment, with a remote expression Tenten couldn't remember him ever taking, almost distracted. It was like she – the girl, Hinata – wasn't there.

The silence of the Forest hung heavily upon the group.

Tenten found herself wishing for an attack. She realised she was gripping the hilt of her katana too tight, and she forced herself to relax. There was no reason to be uneasy. None at all.

_Please let the Inuzuka blurt out something. Anything._

Finally Neji spoke up again. Tenten almost stopped breathing again when she saw the girl – Hinata – straightening, because it meant that - she'd kept her head bowed until then. Even then, her eyelids were still lowered.

"My team needs a Sky scroll. What is yours?"

No comprehending, Tenten stared at him. She could read nothing on his face. Not because it was closed-off, but because he looked so normal.

The girl's shoulders hunched, but that was her only reaction.

"Sky, Neji-sama."

Tenten watched with horrified eyes as she put her hand in her pouch and retrieved the scroll, before taking the few steps that separated her from Tenten's teammate and handed the precious scroll to him.

The heir to the Hyuuga took it and put it in his own pouch, next to his team's Earth scroll.

The spell broke.

Amidst the surrounding chaos, silent and motionless like black-and-white engravings against the coloured blur of a movie, only the two of them were looking as though what they had done was the normal, expected thing.

Tenten closed her eyes and refused to think about anything – about betrayal and powerlessness and loyalty. But she still felt the tears forming.


	13. chuunin exam take 3 alternate

**Title:** Things that could have happened had Hizashi been the older son

**Author:** Runespoor  
**Rating:** T  
**Summary:** alternate version of the previous event. In which I'm marginally nicer.

* * *

**8. chuunin exam – take 3 - alternate version**

"My team needs a Sky scroll. What is yours?"

Kiba stared dumbly at the older genin, blinking a few times as he tried to wrap his mind around the question. Where did _that_ come from? They were supposed to defend their scroll, like hell they were going to go around and answering people's questions about it!

Not that Kiba thought the older team was going to fight them for it – they were Konoha genins, and Hinata and that stuck-up jerk were family – but there might be people listening in. Some enemies couldn't be detected by the Byakugan; who'd ever suspect an ant crawling up your leg? Not Kiba if he hadn't met Shino, that was for sure.

He was huffing with indignation when he saw Hinata's small form hunching under the other's watchful gaze.

And then lightning struck him.

Hinata called him Neji-sama. Hinata was a Hyuuga.

Kiba frantically searched through his memory for anything, _anything_ that might let him understand what was going on, cursing himself when he found _nothing_, nothing.

Nothing in more than a year with Hinata, nothing in a year spent trying to surprise a laugh out of her, nothing when he tried to get her to _stop training, you're hurting yourself_, not a word to explain why sometimes she had to leave early or to miss a day of training, nothing but the vague, all-purpose knowledge that it was 'Hyuuga stuff'.

And that had been enough, and he'd never pried – even when he wanted to, and occasionally he _had_ wanted to, like the time they'd planned for a dinner in town with Kurenai-sensei and Hinata had excused herself just the day before – because usually he didn't think to see anything special about it, just clan stuff; and when he wanted to protest he never even broached the subject when she was there, because she'd just look down, looking sad, and Shino never did, of course he didn't, and Kurenai-sensei never did either, and Kiba knew if she let Hinata's absences go unquestioned there had to be a good reason.

_She might not have a choice._

The thought was halfway there, rising like bile in his throat, when Hinata's soft voice answered.

"E-earth, Neji-sama." She stumbled a little on the first word.

_She might get in serious trouble if she lied._

Hinata was the one carrying the scroll; Kiba remembered her picking it up and placing it in her pouch. It was Sky.

It was lucky that Kiba was too shocked to hear Hinata actually – answer, even if he'd understood she couldn't do otherwise, because then he didn't start, as he surely would have if he'd caught on before. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shino start a little, almost nothing, and he was pretty sure he'd only been able to see that much because they'd been teammates for a year.

The Hyuuga heir gazed at Hinata a few seconds more; instinctively, Kiba tensed up.

If he called her a liar, if he insisted, then Konoha genin or not, and Hinata's family or not, Kiba was ripping him a new one.

She had made her choice, and Kiba'd stick with it no matter what. Akamaru let out a grumble of acquiescence. Peripherally Kiba was aware of the jerk's teammates, but neither of them looked like they wanted to get involved in any of this. If anything, they were looking more horrified than Kiba himself.

But he didn't. Instead, he merely shrugged, before turning to face the general direction of his teammates. It was as if the thought didn't even cross his mind she might not be telling the truth. As soon as he did, Hinata sagged – like a puppet whose master had let go of the strings.

"I h-hope you find the scroll you're looking for soon enough, Neji-sama," Hinata continued, almost startling Kiba out of his skin.

_What was she doing?!_ He wanted to gesture frantically at her to _drop it already, don't push your luck, he'll get suspicious._

Amazingly enough, he didn't even spare a glance her way while he was scattering the tell-tale signs a genin team had rested in the clearing.

"Hm."

It was like Hinata had ceased to exist now Neji wasn't looking at her anymore.

Kiba bristled. He didn't say anything; he didn't trust himself to keep control of his temper – not enough to keep the altercation from turning into a fight, and not enough to keep his wits to him if he was fighting Neji; he couldn't endanger the team's chances, and he couldn't attract the guy's attention back to Hinata.

Hinata slowly turned back; her head was lowered. Kiba and Shino fell into step next to her as she walked toward the bushes through which they'd come into the clearing. From behind him only came the sounds of Neji's putting things away. From the sounds of it, his teammates were still frozen on the spot.

That was a conversation he wouldn't have been looking forward, he thought, but then he couldn't imagine being in a team with that Hyuuga asshole at all without trying to kill him.

They walked through the forest on foot for a few more minutes, Kiba was too distracted, busily replaying the scene in his mind, to pay much attention.

"You could have got into trouble."

Kiba was shaken out of his thoughts by Shino's abrupt statement. His teammate was as unreadable as ever behind his sunglasses. Kiba looked at Hinata, awaiting her answer as well, honestly curious as to why she'd have taken such a risk, against her own – _family_ wasn't a word he'd use about the Hyuuga anymore.

Now he'd seen the enslavement in the Hyuuga, his imagination was more than happy to fill in the blanks – which he'd already have known, his conscience said, if he'd been a better friend.

Not that he wasn't grateful she hadn't given the heir their scroll, course not, but… she'd gone against her clan. And from what he'd heard his mother grip about, things he hadn't understood at the time, the only more dangerous thing Hinata could have done was going against the village.

"I know," she said.

She was a little pale, but Kiba had never seen her looking that determined.


	14. chuunin exam take 3 alternate cont'd

**Title:** Things that could have happened had Hizashi been the older son

**Author:** Runespoor  
**Rating:** T  
**Summary:** follow-up of the previous drabble, which is an alternate version of _its _previous drabble.

* * *

**8. chuunin exam – take 3 – alternate version cont'd**

As he was tidying the remains of their camp, Neji didn't pay attention to his teammates. It wasn't that he was ignoring them, precisely; he was just focusing on his thought process.

_"My team needs a Sky scroll. What is yours?"_

Retrospectively, Neji wasn't sure what had come over him, to begin by stating the nature of his team's scroll. It had been a split-second impulse; one he wasn't sure what his father would think about should he know about it.

(The thought completely failed to cross Neji's mind that the only person from whom Hizashi would be likely to hear about this incident was him.)

He hadn't missed Hinata's uneasiness either; a part of him was insisting it was shame. She'd spoken after her initial answer as well, and it had sounded like an apology.

(He didn't imagine it may have been a promise.)

But that didn't matter. What mattered was that they still had to find a Sky scroll, since Hinata's team was also in the possession of an Earth scroll.

(Unless she'd lied, Neji acknowledged in the darkest, deepest part of his mind, the part that worked so deep so well-hidden that was as if he didn't even know what was going on there, the part that held all the unHyuuga-heir thoughts and feelings Neji would have honestly sworn he didn't have.

Unless she'd lied.

He hoped she had.)


End file.
